Bronx Man Sentenced For Role In Plan To Bring Cocaine Through Newark Airport

NEWARK – A Bronx, N.Y., man was sentenced Monday to 41 months in prison for arranging to import 960 grams of cocaine from the Dominican Republic into the United States via Newark Liberty International Airport and other regional airports, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Arturo Marin, 25, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Katharine Hayden to conspiracy to import cocaine. Hayden imposed the sentence on April 23 in Newark federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Marin admitted he agreed with others to import cocaine by arranging for couriers to transport the drug into the country via commercial aircraft. As part of the conspiracy, Marin arranged for himself and three other men to travel to the Dominican Republic and attempt to return to the United States with ingested cocaine capsules between Aug. 24, 2010, and Oct. 25, 2010. Special agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrested these individuals at the airport as they attempted to re-enter the United States.

In addition to the prison term, Hayden sentenced Marin to five years of supervised release.

Fishman praised special agents of HSI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Andrew M. McLees in Newark; officers of Customs and Border Protection, under the leadership of Director of New York Field Operations Robert E. Perez, and officers of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department, under the direction of Superintendent Michael A. Fedorko, for their work in the investigation leading to the sentence.